Rebuilding Wisconsin rail line to create jobs

Plymouth, Wis., officials
say that the city is now recruiting at least three startup manufacturers
capable of creating hundreds of jobs thanks to a planned project to restore
freight rail service from Plymouth to Sheboygan Falls, the Sheboygan Press
reports. The companies, which city officials declined to name citing
confidentiality agreements, include one manufacturer that could employ up to
500 people and two others that could create 150 jobs combined - and officials
said more are expected to follow.

"You can just imagine
what could spin off that," said Plymouth Mayor Don Pohlman, during a
presentation to members of the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce at the City
Streets restaurant in Sheboygan on Friday.

According to Pohlman, the
larger company is currently considering a 150-acre parcel in the Plymouth
Industrial Park, while the two smaller ones are looking at 20-acre parcels.

The main attraction for
these businesses is a $15-million project to rebuild an abandoned freight rail
line running from Plymouth to Sheboygan Falls, which will connect to a
north-south line running from Milwaukee.

Initial work to restore the
nearly 15-mile line, which has been dormant for decades, could begin as early
as December, and the line could re-open by November 2010.

The project is being funded
by $12 million in state funds and $3 million in local money. The City of
Plymouth is considering issuing $2 million in general obligation bonds for the
project as part of its 2010 budget. The city would raise the remaining $1
million using tax incremental financing bonds. Pohlman said the city would
repay the debt by charging a $10 per rail-car fee to all trains passing through
the city.

Additional job creation
could also come from the nine or so companies that have indicated they would
use the restored rail line, including Bemis Manufacturing Co., Richardson
Industries, Kettle-Lakes Cooperative, Morgan Aircraft and Kohler Co.

Meanwhile, John Rogers, the
chamber's business development director, said he's talked with food processors
and a warehousing company that are all considering moves or expansions here
because of the rail project.

"This is a very
opportunistic for us from a jobs perspective," Rogers said.

Plymouth officials
indicated that the lack of a rail line between the two cities has already cost
the community at least one potential development opportunity.

Jerry Thompson, the city's
railroad services coordinator, said a New Mexico manufacturer had strongly
considering moving here to be closer to Plymouth Foam, one of its major
suppliers. The move would have brought 360 jobs here, but the deal fell
through, he said, because the rail line wasn't built yet.